Wheel



March}, 1943. I ooms 2,312,345

WHEEL Filed Nov. 1, 1941 v 3 Sheets-Shet 1 1% 010772115 9 mvsm-onATTORNEV f Marh2,1943. F, KLQQMIS I 2,312,345

WHEEL Filed Nov. 1, 1941 :5 SheetsSheet 2 ATTORNEY .March 2, 1943. oomsI 2,312,345

WHEEL Filed Nov. 1, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Ii "HUN"! 7 U017? 9 INVENTORPatented Mar. 2, 1943 tuNiTEio STATES OFFICE WHEEL FrankKghoomi'sdNew'raltzrN. Y-l Application-Nov er 1, 19 1,; i I-Ne 17i5 8-Claims, (mam -20') Thisiiinventionrelates; tovehicle wheels audits I oof these-blocked, adiacentzeach end thereof, is

primarybbi tot. is 1 to, provide; a. wheel: which. will possess ahghdegree. ofr resiliency butwilrnot re, quire the use of.pneumatictires; thereby avoiding he. di.sa'. varita es. or, a.punctured, tire. without sacrificing any'of the riding qualities.

The. invention, seeks to. provide a spring- .Wheel which will. bestrongv and. durable; adapted for use; upon heavy trucks as: well as,upon light pleasure-vehicles, andalsoseeks toprovide alwheel inwhich theground-engaging; elements may be v the; innen: .endz. of each-cobalt;and a compression placedunder any degree of; tension according to theload-Which will; be. normally carried; by the vehicle to;which\,thewheelis applied... 4 These stated, objects; and other: objectswhichwill; appear incidentally; in the course; of thezfol+lowingidescriptionx are attained insucha structure as. is illustrated,in the: accompanying drawings and: the. invention, resides in, certain;novel fea: tures which: will be particularlypointed out. in theappended;.claims-.,

In the drawings;

Figured is. a side eleyationofa wheel-.embodye ing the ,5 present;invention.

Figure 2;is a.longitudinallsection; through apore encetoFi -ureszeand nt upper Side; oieach formeda groove orrrecess. 1 which extends entirelacross. the block; and opens through the: sides thereotiwhileq-amopening; 81leads; from the, bottom of each; groupthrough the: bottom; ofv the, block.

An; eyezbjoltdgis arrangedtjo :coeoperatewwith each of these blocks 4and has its upper portion engaged in the opening 8 while its lower or;inner end pro- .jectszfromtherelly:3nradiallyotthewheel towardthfi,hubl; aniadjustingnut I i] being mounted upon spring. H; being:coiled: around. the bolt; between saidcnut. and; the; felly',-,as;shown;and as will be un'derstmid1 Within eachgroove-or recess], ad-

- jacent;the :ends. thereof; are mounted rollers I2 over is: trained,anzendlessr'cabley I3 which ha'slits: portions: between. the rollersthreaded through: the: eye: L4 of the. corresponding bolt 2'97.

Between'aeachrtwo; guide: blocks 4: there. is provided. artreadiblockorgrounds engaging element tionof-ithe wheel showing, the tread-blocksustain, a

ing cables and the tensionbolts engagedrthere+ with;

similar view taken centrally of the Figure 3 is a wheel.

Figure 4 is a transverse section on the line 44 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a transverse section on the line 5--5 of Figure 1.

Figures 6 and 7 are detail perspective views of the tread block and theguide blocks respectively.

Figure 8 is a detail view of one of the tension bolts.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings as applied toa disc wheel although it may, of course, be applied to any known or aproved form of wheel and in the drawings, the numeral l designates thehub of the wheel and the numeral 2 designates the strong central discconstituting the body of the wheel. As shown most clearly in Figures 4and 5, the disc is formed with a felly member 3 which is preferablyformed integral with the disc and this felly member supports theground-engaging elements and the guide blocks interposed between saidelements. Spaced equidistantly about the folly are guide blocks 4 whichare secured rigidly in place by fastening bolts or rivets 5 insertedthrough openings 6 provided therefor in the blocks between the endsthereof, as will be readily understood upon refer- I 5 whiclnis:pr-nvided. ini its outer side, adjacent each:end; with agroovezoriohannel; l 6 adaptedto alignzw-ithjherespective channels 1 ofthe adja e cent: guide:.blocks andrmounted centrally in eachchanneLon-groove: lfivisraeroller; H; .theadjacent run.o'fiithecable:lflipassing underltheiroller I 1;.as shown inzFigureaZaThewtread: block; .Iz5i'1's hollow through the greaterrportion of itsextent thereby providing a chamber to receive a ground-engaging block I8which is preferably of rubber, the sides of the block I5 being formedwith lugs or inturned flanges l9 which engage in recesses or notchesprovided therefor in the sides of the elastic block I8 so that the saidblock will be held against accidental detachment.

To facilitate the assembling of the parts, the blocks l5 are provided ontheir sides at their centers with lugs or projections 20 which areadapted to engage grooves 2| provided therefor in the sides of thetension blocks 4 and play in notches 23 extending from the inner ends ofthe channels 2| toward the outer surface of the blocks 4, as will beunderstood upon reference to Figure 7, the tread blocks being therebypermitted to move radially toward and from the felly 3 but being limitedin such movement so that they cannot accidentally drop ofi the wheel.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, it will be seen that I have provided a wheelwhich will have desirable riding qualities and which will require verylittle attention while in service. The rubber blocks or cushions [8which directly engage the ground will cushion the impact so that shocksdue to travel over rough surfaces will be absorbed. and not transferredto the body of the vehicle to cause discomfort to the occupants. As eachtread block comes in contact with the ground surface it will yieldthereto and tend to ride relatively inwardly upon the wheel but thisaction immediately increases the tension upon the connecting cable whichconsequently tends to straighten between the tread blocks whilefollowing the inward movement of the blocks, This action, of course,increases the tension upon the springs I l inasmuch as it tends to pullthe bolts 9 outwardly and the springs will, of course, react so as totake up all slack in the cable and return the tread block to its normalouter position-as 1t will be the travel of the wheel continues. readilyunderstood that asthe tread blockor cushion is brought against theground it willmove inwardly and then outwardly without breaking thecontact with the ground owing to the relative travel of the periphery ofthe wheel and as a result of this action there is no time in which atleast one tread block will not be in contact with the ground surface.The wheel is come pact, is composed of comparatively few parts and isentirely automatic in its shock-absorbing action.

What I claim is:

1. A resilient wheel comprising a felly, tension blocks secured upon thefelly in spaced relation, tread blocks slidably engaged with the tensionblocks and disposed between them to be limited in movement thereby,guide rollers mounted in the several blocks, a flexibleendless-connection trained over the rollers on the tension blocks andunder the rollers on the tread blocks, and tension devices mounted inthe felly and the tension blocks and engaged with the flexibleconnection between the rollers on the tension blocks.

2. A wheel comprising a felly, tension blocks secured on the fellyaround the circumference of the same in spaced relation, saidblockshaving circumferentially extending recesses in their outer sidesadjacent their ends and having openings extending from said recessesthrough theinner sides ofthe blocks, rollers mounted in said :recesses.adjacent the ends thereof; tread blocks mounted upon the felly betweenthe tension blocks and provided with recesses in their outer sidesadjacent their ends, rollers mounted in said recesses, an endlessflexible connection trained over the rollers in the tension blocks andunder the rollers in the tread blocks, and tension devices mounted inthe felly and in the tension blocks and engaged by said connection.

3. A wheel comprising a felly, tension blocks mounted thereon andprovided with channels in their sides opening through one end, andnotches at the inner ends of said channels, tread blocks Y disposedbetween the tension blocks and provided on their sides with projectionsadapted to pass through the channels in the sides of the tension blocks;and play in the notches in the inner ends of said channels, a fiexibleendless connection vices mounted upon the felly and the tension blocksand engaged with said connection.

141 A- wheel comprising a felly, a-plurality of tension blocks securedupon the felly; tread blocks mounted between the tension blocks, thetension blocks having openings leading through their inher sidesand.thefe11 being .provided with openings registering with "said openings,"a flexible endlessconnectiontrained through all the blocks, eye boltsslidably mounted in the openings in the tension blocks and the felly andengaged with saidfiemble'connection, coil springs fitted about theeye-bolts-and bearing at their outer ends against the" felly, andabutrnents on the bolts bearing. against .tl'n'ev inner. ends of thesprings.

5. In a resilient'whe'el, 'a'felly having a plurality ofcircumferentially spaced. sockets therein, .a radially slidable treadmember mounted in each of the said sockets, a.fiexib1e"element'disposedcircumfer'entially: of the felly and engaging the treadmembersso as toproject the latter when the said element'is under tension, 'a"plu"-rality of radially slidable bolts mounted on the felly and projectinginwardly j'thereof at circumferentially spaced'interva'la the. saidbolts engaging the said flexibl'eielement, and a coil spring sleevedabout the inwardly projecting portion. of .each bolt to yieldinglyi holdthe flexible member .under tension.

FRANK K. LOOMIS.

